


Disguise It

by theeternalblue



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-31
Updated: 2017-10-31
Packaged: 2019-01-27 02:38:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 818
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12571876
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theeternalblue/pseuds/theeternalblue
Summary: She tries to kiss him again and forget about this stupid feeling of inadequacy.





	Disguise It

**Author's Note:**

> It's like I have these thoughts... but I don't dare to make them something too long.  
> (There will be a point in which I will need to write a longer story for these two)

It’s beyond her comprehension understand why sweet boy-next-door Archie Andrews manages to make her feel so unsure of herself. He’s the one who brightly smiles whenever the silliest and tiniest signs of affection pour out of her. He’s the owner of those eyes that fall upon her with adoration. His are the hands which touch her as if she were the most precious being he has had the chance to be close to.

And yet, Veronica feels like she could lose him in a breath.

She doesn’t want to smother him with her presence, but losing him feels so inevitable. He seems so genuinely good – a hero on the making. She’s not. She feels the oppressive shadow of everything dark upon her – she is a villain on the making, her family seems to have destined her to be so.

She wants to hold on to Archie’s light. Desperately so.

“Ronnie?” He smiles at her before resting his pen over his books on the coffee table. “You okay?”

She smiles despite herself, leaving her own books next to her on the couch. “Of course, I am.” She turns to him, looking at him through her eyelashes, because of this she is sure – she can seduce and lure him into her world. “I was just thinking this is the first time we spend alone in a while. With everything that’s been going on lately.”

His smile grows into a grin, like a boy on Christmas morning.

Archie is not the one who takes the initiative, usually. This time, though, he leans towards her and presses a tentative kiss to her lips. It’s all the invitation she needs.

Her fingers reach for the soft hair at the nape of his neck, and he seems eager to continue this little session – he lies back and invites her to join him, gently leading her with a hand on her waist.

“I’m sorry if I have been ignoring you,” Archie whispers. “I’ll try to be a better boyfriend.”

Her stomach is in a knot at his words. How could he be a better boyfriend? He has endured dinner with her parents, forgiven her bouts of doubt in herself and family, and her snobbery. Meanwhile, she has done a barely acceptable job at being supportive and paying attention – it’s so hard to learn to let her shields down, and Betty is the only one guiding her.

“It’s okay,” she mumbles back and tries to kiss him again and forget about this stupid feeling of inadequacy.

“No, it’s not.” Archie keeps talking and she’s not in the mood anymore. “We should go on a date.”

“It’s fine. We don’t need that.”

“No! I mean, this is… nice.” He blushes, and it would be endearing if it weren’t because she doesn’t want to hear the next part. “But we never go out and _do_ things. Just the two of us, like going to the movies or…”

“Don’t worry about it.”

“Ronnie…”

“Stop it!” She jumps off him, angry at the situation but mostly at herself. “I should go.”

“You want to date me, but not to go on dates with me?”

She is picking her things up when his words take her by surprise. Veronica stops and turns to him. “I’m not good at it. You won’t like me, or I will disappoint you with something I say or an opinion I have – maybe you’ll think the music I like it’s boring or awful, and… I’m not ready for you to realize about it.” She sighs and looks down at the carpet’s pattern. It’s ridiculous. “I don’t want you to see my inner world, as stupid as that sounds. My true self is not as amazing as I make it look like.”

Archie chuckles before standing up. He approaches her, and despite her attempt to push him away, he wraps his arms around her middle. “Are you crazy? I cannot wait to know more of you. Every detail, from the music you like to your favorite candy. A strange talent I might not know about? A movie you can quote?”

A short laugh passes through her lips. “You want me to say The Untouchables now, but it’s probably Roman Holiday.”

“Never watched it.”

“It doesn’t surprise me.”

“It could be our first date? Alone. No Betty or Jug… no one but the two of us.”

Veronica reaches for his face and frowns at him, studying him. “You really want to know me?”

“Yes!”

“Are you sure?”

“Ronnie,” he scolds. “What’s wrong?”

Nothing. Everything. She lives thinking that this could be the day he realizes she’s not as good as she made him think. The thought of him not liking her anymore is devastating – it could probably be the trigger for her turning back into her old-self, vengeful and mean. The villain she was raised to be.

But she puts a brave face on. “I like caramel popcorn.”


End file.
